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Sirach 15

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1 ὁ φοβούμενος κύριον ποιήσει αὐτό καὶ ὁ ἐγκρατὴς τοῦ νόμου καταλήμψεται αὐτήν 2 καὶ ὑπαντήσεται αὐτῷ ὡς μήτηρ καὶ ὡς γυνὴ παρθενίας προσδέξεται αὐτόν 3 ψωμιεῖ αὐτὸν ἄρτον συνέσεως καὶ ὕδωρ σοφίας ποτίσει αὐτόν στηριχθήσεται ἐ{P'} αὐτὴν καὶ οὐ μὴ κλιθῇ 4 καὶ ἐ{P'} αὐτῆς ἐφέξει καὶ οὐ μὴ καταισχυνθῇ καὶ ὑψώσει αὐτὸν παρὰ τοὺς πλησίον αὐτοῦ 5 καὶ ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας ἀνοίξει τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ 6 εὐφροσύνην καὶ στέφανον ἀγαλλιάματος εὑρήσει καὶ ὄνομα αἰῶνος κατακληρονομήσει 7 οὐ μὴ καταλήμψονται αὐτὴν ἄνθρωποι ἀσύνετοι καὶ ἄνδρες ἁμαρτωλοὶ οὐ μὴ ἴδωσιν αὐτήν 8 μακράν ἐστιν ὑπερηφανίας καὶ ἄνδρες ψεῦσται οὐ μὴ μνησθήσονται αὐτῆς 9 οὐχ ὡραῖος αἶνος ἐν στόματι ἁμαρτωλοῦ 10 ὅτι οὐ παρὰ κυρίου ἀπεστάλη ἐν γὰρ σοφίᾳ ῥηθήσεται αἶνος καὶ ὁ κύριος εὐοδώσει αὐτόν

1 If a man fears the Lord, he will live an upright life. If a man holds fast to inno-cence, he will find wisdom[1] ready to his embrace, 2 welcoming him as a mother welcomes the son who cherishes her, greeting him like a maiden bride. 3 Long life and good discernment are the bread this mother will provide for him, truth the refreshing draught she will give him to drink. She will take firm hold of him, so that he never wavers, 4 restrain him, so that he is never disgraced. She will raise him to high repute among his neighbours; 5 she will move him to speak before the assembled people, filling him with the spirit of wisdom and discernment, clothing him in magnificent array. 6 Joy and triumph she has in store for him, and will enrich him with a name that shall never be forgotten. 7 Not for the fools her embrace, only apt pupils encounter her; how should the fools catch sight of her, that is so far removed from proud and treacherous ways? 8 Nay, she is beyond the deceiver’s ken; true hearts alone are her company, and these shall profit by it till they are fit for God’s scrutiny. 9 Praise is but praise deformed when it is uttered by the lips of a sinner; 10 wisdom comes from God only, and on wisdom the praise of God needs must wait. Praise on the lips of one who trusts God is rich in meaning; the Ruler of all inspires it.

1

Qui timet Deum faciet bona,
et qui continens est justitiæ apprehendet illam: 2
et obviabit illi quasi mater honorificata,
et quasi mulier a virginitate suscipiet illum. 3
Cibabit illum pane vitæ et intellectus,
et aqua sapientiæ salutaris potabit illum:
et firmabitur in illo, et non flectetur: 4
et continebit illum, et non confundetur:
et exaltabit illum apud proximos suos, 5
et in medio ecclesiæ aperiet os ejus,
et adimplebit illum spiritu sapientiæ et intellectus,
et stola gloriæ vestiet illum. 6
Jucunditatem et exsultationem thesaurizabit super illum,
et nomine æterno hæreditabit illum. 7
Homines stulti non apprehendent illam,
et homines sensati obviabunt illi.
Homines stulti non videbunt eam:
longe enim abest a superbia et dolo. 8
Viri mendaces non erunt illius memores:
et viri veraces invenientur in illa,
et successum habebunt usque ad inspectionem Dei. 9
Non est speciosa laus in ore peccatoris, 10
quoniam a Deo profecta est sapientia.
Sapientiæ enim Dei astabit laus,
et in ore fideli abundabit,
et Dominator dabit eam illi.

11 μὴ εἴπῃς ὅτι διὰ κύριον ἀπέστην ἃ γὰρ ἐμίσησεν οὐ ποιήσει 12 μὴ εἴπῃς ὅτι αὐτός με ἐπλάνησεν οὐ γὰρ χρείαν ἔχει ἀνδρὸς ἁμαρτωλοῦ 13 πᾶν βδέλυγμα ἐμίσησεν ὁ κύριος καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀγαπητὸν τοῖς φοβουμένοις αὐτόν 14 αὐτὸς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐποίησεν ἄνθρωπον καὶ ἀφῆκεν αὐτὸν ἐν χειρὶ διαβουλίου αὐτοῦ 15 16 ἐὰν θέλῃς συντηρήσεις ἐντολὰς καὶ πίστιν ποιῆσαι εὐδοκίας 17 παρέθηκέν σοι πῦρ καὶ ὕδωρ οὗ ἐὰν θέλῃς ἐκτενεῖς τὴν χεῖρά σου 18 ἔναντι ἀνθρώπων ἡ ζωὴ καὶ ὁ θάνατος καὶ ὃ ἐὰν εὐδοκήσῃ δοθήσεται αὐτῷ 19 ὅτι πολλὴ ἡ σοφία τοῦ κυρίου ἰσχυρὸς ἐν δυναστείᾳ καὶ βλέπων τὰ πάντα 20 καὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τοὺς φοβουμένους αὐτόν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπιγνώσεται πᾶν ἔργον ἀνθρώπου 21 οὐκ ἐνετείλατο οὐδενὶ ἀσεβεῖν καὶ οὐκ ἔδωκεν ἄνεσιν οὐδενὶ ἁμαρτάνειν 22

11 This wisdom lackest thou?[2] Do not blame God for the want of it; learn to shun the deeds God hates. 12 Do not complain that it was he led thee into false paths; what need has God, thinkest thou, of rebels? 13 No foul misdeed there is but God hates it; there is no loving it and fearing him. 14 When men first came to be, it was God made them, and, making them, left them to the arbitrament of their own wills; 15 yet giving them commandments to be their rule. 16 Those commandments if thou wilt observe, they in their turn shall preserve thee, and give thee warrant of his favour.[3] 17 It is as though he offered thee fire and water, bidding thee take which thou wouldst; 18 life and death, blessing and curse, man finds set before him, and the gift given thee shall be the choice thou makest; 19 so wise God is, so constraining his power, so incessant the watch he keeps over mankind. 20 The Lord’s eye is watching over the men who fear him, no act of ours passes unobserved; 21 upon none does he enjoin disobedience, none has leave from him to commit sin. 22 A brood of disloyal sons and worthless, how should this be the Lord’s desire?

11

Non dixeris: Per Deum abest:
quæ enim odit ne feceris. 12
Non dicas: Ille me implanavit:
non enim necessarii sunt ei homines impii. 13
Omne execramentum erroris odit Dominus,
et non erit amabile timentibus eum. 14
Deus ab initio constituit hominem,
et reliquit illum in manu consilii sui: 15
adjecit mandata et præcepta sua. 16
Si volueris mandata servare, conservabunt te,
et in perpetuum fidem placitam facere. 17
Apposuit tibi aquam et ignem,
ad quod volueris porrige manum tuam. 18
Ante hominem vita et mors, bonum et malum:
quod placuerit ei dabitur illi: 19
quoniam multa sapientia Dei, et fortis in potentia,
videns omnes sine intermissione. 20
Oculi Domini ad timentes eum,
et ipse agnoscit omnem operam hominis. 21
Nemini mandavit impie agere,
et nemini dedit spatium peccandi: 22
non enim concupiscit multitudinem
filiorum infidelium et inutilium.

[1] Literally, ‘will find her’. Grammatically, this might refer to ‘innocence’, but it is fairly certain we are meant to think of Wisdom, alluded to in 14.22 above.

[2] ‘This wisdom lackest thou?’; according to the Greek text, ‘Hast thou rebelled against him?’

[3] The rendering given above is an attempt to combine the Greek and the Latin versions, either of which, taken by itself, is untranslatable.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd